The Debunker: Did Mozart Write "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"? - Woot Woot! The Debunker: Did Mozart Write "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"? The Debunker: Did Mozart Write "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"? by Ken Jennings 2 years ago Human ignorance, sadly, isn't limited to planet Earth. Even today, over 400 years after the Age of Enlightenment began, plenty of people are still getting plenty of stuff wrong--not just about our home planet, but about the whole universe. Luckily, Jeopardy!s Ken Jennings is the author of a new book about the mysteries of the cosmos, the Junior Genius Guide to Outer Space . In this month's Debunker columns, he'll set us straight on a whole sky full of starry slip-ups. These are some misconceptions of truly astronomical proportion. The Debunker: Star Myth #4: Did Mozart Write "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"? The little-known fact that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote the melody for the children's song "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is not so little-known as the wiseacre typically volunteering the "fact" would have you believe.

I've seen the claim in Frommer's travel guides, children's books about Mozart, and even (ironically) a book about scientific misconceptions by Phil Plait, who blogs at Bad Astronomy. It's plausible enough, I guess. Who else would compose one of the world's most famous kids' songs but the world's most famous kid composer? The melody to "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is ubiquitous--you may or may not have noticed that we also use it for "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and "The Alphabet Song." But it's an actually an old French folk song called "Ah! vous dirais-je Maman" ("Oh! Shall I Tell You Mommy"). About fifty years after the melody was first published, it was borrowed for "The Star," a nursery rhyme written by London poets Jane and Ann Taylor. "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" was born. How did Mozart, of all people, get the credit? Around 1781, when "Ah! vous dirais-je Maman" was already an old classic, Mozart composed twelve variations on the simple tune. But so did plenty of other classical composers, including Franz Liszt and Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach.

The melody would have been enormously popular with or without Mozart, and he certainly didn't originate it. But don't feel too bad for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He has a pretty solid musical résumé to fall back on, with or without "Twinkle Twinkle." Quick Quiz: What novel features an off-kilter parody of the famous rhyme that begins, "Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! How I wonder what you're at"? The Straight Dope: Who wrote the melody to the alphabet song? A Staff Report from the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board Who wrote the melody to the alphabet song? April 21, 2000 Dear Straight Dope: I wanted to ask you, who wrote the melody to the alphabet song? I would greatly appreciate an answer if you have one. — Karl Stein SDStaff Jill replies: Until I looked into this, I always thought Mozart wrote it when he was very young. Unfortunately, like many of the stories I enjoy and pass onto others, it isn't true. The alphabet was first set to this tune in 1834 (I'll get to that later), but the tune itself is older and nobody knows who came up with it.

Also known as "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" in the United States and "Ist das nicht ein Schnitzelbank?" (sung to other tunes, too) in Germany, the melody was used for an early country song in France. According to The Book of World Famous Music by James J. Fund, it first appeared without words as "Ah! Vous Dirai-Je, Maman" ("Shall I tell you, Mother?") in Les Amusements d'une Heure et Demy by M. Bouin in Paris in 1761. The earliest known lyrics to be attached to this melody appeared around 1765 as "Le Faux Pas," as "La Confidence-Naive" in 1774, and then in Paris around 1780 as "Les Amours de Silvandre." Here's the first stanza of the first known written version: Ah! vous dirai-je, maman, Ce qui cause mon tourment Depuis que j'ai vu Silvandre Me regarder d'un air tendre, Mon coeur dit a tout moment: Peut-on vivre sans amant?

Mozart did compose variations on this theme for piano, probably as practice keyboard exercises for his students. The Compleat Mozart edited by Neal Zaslaw listed the "Twelve variations on Ah vous dirai-je, Maman" as number K265, written probably in Vienna in 1781 or 1782, which would put Mozart at around 26 years old. Many other famous composers have been inspired by or written variations on this theme. The second movement to Joseph Haydn's "Surprise" Symphony (#94, written in 1791) is a series of variations of this tune, and Beethoven improvised on it in his second public concert in Prague in 1798. One guy, Patrick Turner, wrote a whole book postulating that Elgar's "Enigma" has its roots in the "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" tune. Of course this is the topic of hot debate among conductors and musicologists.

Back to the English/American lyrics, again according to James Fund, the song "Mark My Alford" was set to this music in Philadelphia in 1794 and it appeared in a songbook in New York as "The Delights of Wedded Love" in 1795. The alphabet song was first copyrighted under the title "The Schoolmaster" in Boston by C. Bradlee on February 4, 1834. The words to "Baa Baa Black Sheep" were included in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book with a different melody in 1744 in London. The same lyrics showed up set to this music in the U.S. in A.H. Rosewig's Illustrated National Nursery Songs and Games in 1879. The words to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" were written in London in 1806 by Jane Taylor as "The Star" in her book Rhymes for the Nursery. They were probably first set to this tune in The Singing Master: First Class Tune-Book in 1838. Clearly there are many, many versions of lyrics and variations on this tune in the western world.

Nobody knows who originally wrote the French melody, but whoever it was, Little Richard ain't got nothin' on him for lost royalties. — SDStaff Jill, Straight Dope Science Advisory Board Staff Reports are written by the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board, Cecil's online auxiliary. Though the SDSAB does its best, these columns are edited by Ed Zotti, not Cecil, so accuracywise you'd better keep your fingers crossed. Mozart and the Origin of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Classical Music 101 Mozart and the Origin of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Many people believe that the famous classical period composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, wrote the melody to "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". However, the song is actually a wordless folk tune from France that was first published in 1761. Ed Freeman/Getty Images By Aaron Green Updated March 13, 2016. What do the following nursery rhymes have in common: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Baa, Baa, Black Sheep, and The Alphabet Song? They all share the same tune! The famous melody is also used in many other songs including German, Hungarian, Spanish, and Turkish Christmas carols.

So who composed this famous tune? Many people think it was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , but that's not true. The tune is actually an old French melody titled "Ah! Vous Dirai-Je, Maman" ("Shall I tell you, Mother?") that first appeared without words in Les Amusements d'une Heure et Demy by M. Bouin in Paris in 1761. Twenty years later, when Mozart was 25 or 26, he composed a set of 12 improvisations based on "Ah! Vous Dirai-Je, Maman." Les Amusements d'une Heure et Demy Published in Paris in 1761, Les Amusements d'une Heure et Demy is a collection of six divertissements champêtre, meaning a collection of six "country entertainment" or music for garden parties, by Mr. Boüin for violins, flutes, oboe, pardessus de viole (the highest pitched instrument in the strings family often played by women in France), and bagpipe.

continue reading below our video Great Singers Gone too Soon ( View the original publication of Les Amusements d'une Heure et Demy thanks to the work of the National Library of France who digitized the complete score and made it available online for free. ) Garden parties were extremely popular in 18th century France. Despite the humble title, this form of entertainment was nothing short of extravagant; even parts of Versailles Palace's parks were transformed to accommodate these ostentatious affairs. Depending on the garden party's host, orchestras could be hidden among the trees and shrubbery, guests could dress in costume, pavilions could be built, and lavish banquets could be held. "Ah! Vous Dirai-Je, Maman" Lyrics "Ah! Vous Dirai-Je, Maman" is the first divertissement champêtre in Mr. Boüin's 1761 publication listed above. The earliest known publication of both the music and the lyrics together is M.D.L.'s 2nd volume of Recueil de Romances (History of Romances). M.D.L., a.k.a. Charles de Lusse, was an 18th century French composer, writer, and flautist.

French Lyrics Ce qui cause mon tourment? Papa veut que je raisonne Comme une grande personne Moi je dis que les bonbons Valent mieux que la raison. English Translation Ah! Shall I tell you, Mother, What causes my torment? Father wants me to reason As an adult, but I say that sweets are Better than reason. Mozart's 12 Variations of "Ah! Vous Dirai-Je, Maman" K.265 Mozart composed a set of 12 variations based on "Ah ! Vous dirai-je maman" for piano when he was 25 or 26 years old. Historians aren't able to accurately pin down the date of composition, but many believe Mozart would have likely heard and composed the French melody while he was in Paris between April and September of 1778. When organizing his catalog of music, musicologists renumbered the piece K.300e instead of the original K.265. (If you are unfamiliar with Mozart's K-numbers, it's actually pretty simple to understand.

Ludwig von Köchel (1800-1877) was a German musicologist, botanist, writer, publisher, and well-known scholar. One of his many endeavors was to catalogue all of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's compositions in chronological order. After painstakingly scouring through countless documents, letters, correspondences, scores, notes, books, and more, Köchel was able to catalogue 626 pieces of music. He also added an addendum that included lost authentic works, fragments by Mozart, works by Mozart transcribed by others, doubtful works, and misattributed works. There have been several major revisions to Köchel's 500+ page catalogue, so you'll often find pieces with multiple K-numbers.) The finished set of Mozart's 12 variations were published in Vienna in 1785. View a YouTube video of Mozart's 12 Variations of "Ah! Vous Dirai-Je, Maman" K.265 .

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Baa, Baa, Black Sheep, and The Alphabet Song The lyrics to Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star come from a poem titled "The Star" written by English poet, Jane Taylor (1783-1824). Taylor published the poem in her book Rhymes for the Nursery in London in 1806. The earliest known appearance of the poem set to music is likely in The Singing Master - Volume III - First Class Tune Book . Baa, Baa, Black Sheep was published without music in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book in 1744, and later set to music in A. H. Rosewig's (Illustrated National) Nursery Songs and Games, which was published in Philadelphia in 1879. In 1835, the Alphabet Song was published in Boston by Charles Bradlee, who received a copyright for the piece, attributing the musical arrangement to Louis Le Maire. He titled the piece "The A.B.C., a German air with variations for the flute with an easy accompaniment for the piano forte". Did Mozart Write “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”?

| Britannica.com Did Mozart Write “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”? Art Media/Biblioteque de l’Opera, Paris/Heritage-Images/Imagestate Next up on Demystified Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies The composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is remembered for his precociousness, his prolific output, and his beautiful and memorable melodies. With all due respect to the famous opening bars of Eine kleine Nachtmusik , probably the most familiar melody associated with Mozart is known to English speakers as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” Indeed, it is commonly believed that the tune was one of Mozart’s earliest compositions, written when he was a child for his older sister, Nannerl. Alas, the story isn’t true. What is true is that Mozart composed a set of variations on the tune for the piano. Those variations were probably written in the early 1780s, when Mozart was a young man, and they may have been intended as piano exercises for the music students he taught.

The complete work was published in 1785 and was described as variations on “Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman,” a French folk song that was popular at the time. Here’s a rough translation of that song’s lyrics (ah, the silliness of pre-Revolutionary France): Ah, Mother, if I could tell you / What causes my torment / Father wants me to reason / Like a grown-up / But I say that sweets / Are worth more than reason So who composed the tune itself? No one knows. The melody of “Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman” was first published (without words) in Les Amusements d'une Heure et Demy (1761), a collection of music to be played at garden parties. The collection is attributed to a man named Boüin, but there is no evidence that he personally wrote the music. Although some scholars have suggested that the tune might be as old as 1740, the identity of its composer is still a mystery.

As for “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” it originated as a poem written by the English author Jane Taylor and was published in 1806 as “The Star.” Sometime later the poem was set to the melody of “Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman.” (The earliest known appearance of the words and the music together dates to 1838.) As you may have already realized, it’s not the only set of alternative lyrics for the tune. Among the other songs that have made use of the melody are “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep,” the alphabet song (“A-B-C-D-E-F-G”), and a German sing-along (“Ist das nicht ein Schnitzelbank?”). How the Song Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star Achieved Classical Music Success CLASSICAL Jun 1, 2016 Children’s songs and folk music are often handed down through an oral tradition. They seem to spring up without any specific composer yet survive numerous arrangements and different sets of lyrics.

This is the case of a folk melody that eventually became “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” The tune took root in the mid-1700s in France and, in addition to being popular with classical composers, has been used for various children’s songs. Lyrics were added later and published in 1761 as “Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman” based on the nursery rhyme about a child explaining that candy is more important than reasoning like a grown-up. At the age of 25, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart traveled to Vienna in 1781. While there, he wrote Twelve Variations on Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman (K265 / K300e) in either 1781 or 1782. The work was for piano and written in C major. The first movement is the song in a straightforward manner followed by twelve variations. It was latter published in Vienna in 1785. After Mozart’s rendition, other composers followed. One of J.S.

Bach’s sons, Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, composed a theme and variations of the children’s song in G major, and Joseph Haydn included it as the theme in the second movement of Symphony No. 94, the Surprise Symphony, (1791). Three English language nursery rhymes started using the French melody during the 19th century. The poem, “Baa Baa Black Sheep,” was written in the 1730s but not published with the music until 1879. “The Alphabet Song,” used to teach children the English alphabet, was set to the same music and first published in 1835. English poets, Jane and Ann Taylor, were sisters who wrote children’s poems. Their book, Rhymes for the Nursery, was published in 1806 and included a poem of Jane’s called “The Star.” It was first published with the music in 1838 and later became known as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” Classical music composers of the 19th century continued what Mozart had started: using the children’s song in their compositions.

For example, the composer-organist, Camille Saint-Saëns, used the melody as part of the larger work, The Carnival of the Animals, and Adolphe Adam, included it in his opéra-comique, Le toréador. Since then, the instrumental melody has been used in several genres from classical to jazz. There have also been numerous adaptations and parodies of the song, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” Had it not been for Mozart and his variations, the rest of the world might never have known about this tune. Previous article Who wrote the alphabet song? | Dictionary.com Blog Home » Language » Symbols and Punctuation » Who wrote the alphabet song? Who wrote the alphabet song? February 21, 2012 by: Dictionary.com 179 Comments Whether you learned your ABCs on Sesame Street , from your grandmother, or in kindergarten, you probably learned them. The clever tune is imprinted in the brains of most of us English speakers. When you look up a word in a print dictionary, you may still sing the song to yourself to remember if L is before J or not. We take the song for granted today, but someone had to write that tune.

Though you may not recognize it, the tune of the alphabet song is based on the tune of a very common nursery rhyme: “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”. In the 1780s, Mozart originally composed the tune as a variation on a classic French nursery rhyme “Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman” (which means “Ah! Would I tell you, mother?”). Fifty years later, an American music publisher Charles Bradlee put the useful lyrics to that catchy tune: A, B, C, D… you know how it goes. In 1835, he copyrighted the song. The song’s legal title was “The A.B.C., a German air with variations for the flute with an easy accompaniment for the piano forte.” (Nursery rhymes of all stripes help young children learn the rules of language. Learn more here .) Obviously, the rest is history. Today, the tune is standard for alphabet songs, not only the English alphabet, but also French and German. Similarly, other languages have alphabet songs to help children learn and remember the written language. In Arabic, the alphabet song is also a child-friendly tune called “Alif Ba Ta Tsa”.

Both Japanese and Chinese have poems that express all the characters in the language. In Japanese, a poem, “Iroha”, contains all the syllables of Japanese, called kana . A more common organization of the language, though, is the gojūon, which also has all the Japanese kanas. In Chinese, a poem called the “Thousand Character Classic” helps schoolchildren learn all the Chinese characters. Clearly, we all need alphabets and mnemonic devices to help us remember written language. Do you still use the alphabet song regularly? Comcast Opens Colorado Springs Xfinity Customer Center. Entertainment Close-up March 31, 2012 Comcast, a national provider of entertainment, information and communications products and services, announced that it held a special reception and ribbon-cutting event on March 23 for the grand opening of its new Xfinity Customer Center in Colorado Springs. According to a release, the 4,500 square-foot center, the largest Xfinity Customer Center in the nation, is designed entirely around the needs of customers and provides consumers with an opportunity to explore, learn about, and interact directly with the latest Xfinity products and services.

Elected officials and community leaders, including Mayor Steve Bach, Colorado House Majority Leader Amy Stephens, Chief of Economic Vitality and Innovation Steve Cox, and President of Military Affairs for the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce Brian Binn, celebrated the opening and toured the new space. Additionally, Donna Nelson, Economic Vitality Specialist for the Mayor’s office and leader of Spirit of the Springs, attended to accept a $2,500 donation from Comcast. The donation will contribute to the purchase of supplies and further park enhancements during a Spirit of the Springs service day project and Comcast Cares Day next month, when Comcast volunteers will work alongside community volunteers to beautify parks in Colorado Springs. web site comcast service center “We’re pleased Comcast has chosen Colorado Springs for the location of one of its first newly designed customer centers,” said Steve Bach, Mayor of Colorado Springs. “It’s important for Colorado Springs, and Colorado as a whole, to support good employers dedicated to the communities they serve.

A vibrant business community is an engine that helps keep our local economy in high gear, so we appreciate Comcast’s local support and the jobs they provide across our region.” The company said the new Xfinity Customer Center in Colorado Springs, located at 5020 North Nevada Avenue, features fully interactive touch screen displays; the environment enables customers to learn about products and indulge in the complete Xfinity Experience. The center also exhibits a 3D viewing experience and comfortable seating areas. website comcast service center Customers, the company continued, can try out Comcast’s Xfinity Home security system, the Xfinity TV app and other apps on an iPad and experience Xfinity TV, test drive Xfinity Internet’s speeds and learn more about Comcast Business Class products and services at Kiosks throughout the center. In addition, customers will receive personalized service from Sales Consultants and more offerings, including a self-service kiosk for bill pay and a new queuing system that allows customers to explore and be entertained instead of waiting in line for service. “The new Xfinity Customer Center provides a place where our customers can experience Xfinity products and Services firsthand and check out the latest technology we offer in a comfortable, interactive environment,” said Rich Jennings, Regional Vice President of Comcast’s Mile High Region.

“This new model offers a more welcoming design, an improved customer experience, and a new attitude as we apply the same mindset of innovation, speed and value that our customers love about our products.” The Colorado Springs Xfinity Customer Center is open Monday through Saturday from 9 am – 7 pm and Sunday from 10 am – 4 pm. The center replaces the former Comcast Service Center located at 213 North Union Boulevard in Colorado Springs. More information: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - YouTube Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Nov 11, 2012 Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star is a popular English Nursery Rhyme first published as a poem called The Star in 1806 by Jane Taylor.

It is sung to the tune of the French melody "Ah vous dirai-je, maman", which was published in 1761 and later arranged by the famous composer Mozart. An alternative version of the lyrics were famously used by Lewis Carroll in his 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. In this case the Mad Hatter recited the poem as Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat. I'm very grateful to Mari Nallos for doing such an amazing job of singing this lullaby. Category When autoplay is enabled, a suggested video will automatically play next. Up next Play now Mix - Twinkle Twinkle Little StarYouTube Wheels On The Bus | Plus Lots More Nursery Rhymes | 54 Minutes Compilation from LittleBabyBum! - Duration: 54:13. LittleBabyBum ® 1,721,252,363 views 54:13 Five Little Ducks | Plus Lots More Children's Songs | 74 Minutes Compilation from LittleBabyBum! - Duration: 1:14:37.

LittleBabyBum ® 504,065,044 views 1:14:37 Bingo Was His Name-O - Duration: 2:40. RockstarLittle 1,993,776 views 2:40 Old MacDonald Had a Farm | Nursery Rhyme | Children Songs with Lyrics - Duration: 2:59. Flickbox Kids Songs and Rhymes 25,856,465 views 2:59 Twinkle Twinkle Little Star | Nursery Rhymes | "The Prince And The Star" from LittleBabyBum! - Duration: 2:15. LittleBabyBum ® 30,288,848 views 2:15 Five Little Speckled Frogs | Plus Lots More Nursery Rhymes | Compilation from LittleBabyBum! - Duration: 47:36. LittleBabyBum ® 161,723,532 views 47:36 Twas the Night Before Christmas - Duration: 3:28.

RockstarLittle 300,585 views 3:28 🌟 Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Song + More Baby Songs and Nursery Rhymes by Dave and Ava 🌟 - Duration: 1:09:13. Dave and Ava - Nursery Rhymes and Baby Songs 1,006,015 views 1:09:13 Finger Family Collection - 7 Finger Family Songs - Daddy Finger Nursery Rhymes - Duration: 7:26. Videogyan 3D Rhymes - Nursery Rhymes For Children 588,020,387 views 7:26 Rain, Rain, Go Away Nursery Rhyme With Lyrics - Cartoon Animation Rhymes & Songs for Children - Duration: 2:44. ChuChu TV Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs 205,571,891 views 2:44 Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Song & Many More Nursery Rhymes for Kids/Babies by Cutians™ | ChuChu TV - Duration: 43:32.

ChuChu TV Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs 1,711,481 views 43:32 Twinkle twinkle little rip-off: the dark secrets of the world’s most recognisable tune - Telegraph Twinkle twinkle little rip-off: the dark secrets of the world’s most recognisable tune Sebastian Doggart investigates 'the amazing steal-ability' of a favourite nursery rhyme Twinkle Twinkle Little Star What do the following three famous nursery rhymes have in common? a) Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star b) The Alphabet Song (A, B, C, D etc) c) Baa-Baa Black Sheep The answer is a shocker: THEY ALL FOLLOW THE SAME TUNE. Related Articles The tangled world of sex and power in Washington DC 18 Oct 2011 Try it. Clear your throat, sing along: "Twinkle twinkle little star, / Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full, / Q-R-S-T-U-V...” When I detected this brazen piracy, more than three decades after first hearing the songs, I was livid.

I wanted to call up the lawyer that the Rolling Stones hired to sue the Verve for nicking the opening riff of The Last Time for their hit, Bittersweet Symphony. That lawsuit wrecked the Verve. I wanted the same blood from whatever nursery rhyme writer had plagiarised this beloved tune. It gets worse. Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World is basically the same too. Again, sing along: “I see trees of green, red roses too / How I wonder what you are / And I think to myself – YOU THIEF.” I tested the theory out by singing all four songs to my three-year-old son at bedtime. “They’re the same, Daddy,” he said indignantly. “Sing me a diffewent song.” So I started to investigate where it all started, looking into the melody’s history, and asking musician friends to explain its amazing steal-ability. The melody may be the world’s most recognised. It’s caught on in China, for example, where the Mandarin version goes (altogether now): “Yi shan yi shan, liang jing jing / man tian dou shi xiao xing xing.

/ Gua zai tian kong fang guang ming / hao xiang xu duo xiao yan jing.” Expats in the Philippines swoon at the sound of children singing that country’s version: “Ning ning nang munting butuin / tanglaw sa gabing madilim / sa langit na kay taas /nagsasabog ng liwanag.” Western culture may be resisted in the Arab world, but that’s not stopped the song entering the Arabic musical canon: “Lailiaa, lailiaa ya Nishmeh / keef badi arif wainek / fouk fouk bilaili / mithl loailoai bisamaa.” There’s a German Christmas carol, Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann, and a Dutch one too, Altijd is Kortjakje ziek. Might the melody be so elemental that it could have emerged independently? I asked this question to Dr Katie Overy, senior lecturer in music at the University of Edinburgh. “Very unlikely,” she said. “It would have transferred orally because it’s a good tune.

There’s a rich history in folk music of using the same melody with different words, and modern culture and technology has no doubt speeded up this transfer.” The probability is that, as with the world’s other most recognisable tunes – Happy Birthday, Yesterday, Frère Jacques – the melody was composed in one place, by one or two people. It would then have spread virally, as in the recent movie Contagion, where a bat exchanges fluids with a pig which is then eaten by Gwyneth Paltrow, who contracts the deadly sickness, and triggers a chain reaction that kills millions. I began my search for the source of this magical musical germ. I wanted to identify the creator, and alert them (or more probably their descendants) on how to gain the kudos and cash they deserved. First stop was iTunes, which lists a whopping 2,200 versions of Twinkle, Twinkle.

There are some great renditions, like Elizabeth Mitchell’s ethereal rendition; some terrible ones, like Olivia Newton John’s harp-dripping, saccharine abomination; and some innovative ones, like the Elegants’ rock ‘n roll single Little Star , that made #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1958. The song has been integrated into numerous classic songs, according to Gary Lucas, a legendary rock and jazz guitarist who co-wrote the song Grace with his protégé Jeff Buckley, and who worked as a composer on my film American Faust: From Condi to Neo Condi. “It’s created a lyrical theme,” Lucas says. “Listen to the Stanley Brothers’ great bluegrass track Little Maggie, whose eyes ‘shine like a diamond in the sky.’ Or even Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, where John Lennon is psychedelically playing with pattern recognition. It’s there again in Instant Karma, where 'we all shine on like the moon and the stars'. Melodically, it’s there in Kraftwerk’s Autobahn, or my own cover version , where I riff on the descending scale of “like a diamond in the sky”.

Whether explicitly or subliminally referenced, all these songs mark the author of the melody as ‘unknown’. So I had to hunt further back in history. My father told me of how he had come across a Latin version in the 1950s: “Mica, mica, parva stella, / Miror quaenam sis tam bella. /Super terra in caelo, / Alba gemma splendido". The first appearance of this version was in an 1894 book, When Life is Young, by Mary Mapes Dodge. Pushing further into the 19th century, I opened up 1865’s Alice in Wonderland, where the Mad Hatter parodies the song at his tea party: “Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! / How I wonder what you're at! / Up above the world you fly, / Like a tea tray in the sky.” I then discovered the first occasion when the melody was exploited as an advertising jingle.

Around 1845, a Scottish man called Robert Coltard concocted an aniseed-flavoured sweet called Coulter’s Candy, and promoted it to the Twinkle melody and these lyrics: “Ally bally, ally bally bee, / Sittin' on yer mammy's knee, / Greetin' for a wee bawbee, / Tae buy mair Coulter's Candy.” The song went on to become a classic Scottish folk song, and the sweet began to be remanufactured in 2009 by Dundee-based Ally Bally Bees Ltd. But again, no royalties from have ever been paid to our forgotten composer. Commercial exploitation of the melody was also taking place across the pond. In 1835, Boston-based music publisher Charles Bradlee had the gall to copyright the song through an act of Congress. The lyrics he recorded were those of The Alphabet Song – as if the alphabet was copyrightable! More outrageously, he claimed ownership of the melody as “a German air with variations for the flute with an easy accompaniment for the piano forte".

He did give some credit on the melody to a composer called Louis Le Maire, who had conveniently died in 1750. There is no other evidence that Le Maire wrote the melody, but Bradlee prospered handsomely from his copyright stake. There is no mystery around who wrote the English words to Twinkle, Twinkle. It was a 23-year-old from Suffolk, England called Jane Taylor. In 1806, she wrote a poem called The Star which was published in a book called Rhymes for the Nursery. There are actually five stanzas, which was a refreshing find, since the first one was getting tedious to have to sing it every night to my children. To share that discovery with any needy parents out there, verse two goes: “When the blazing sun is gone, / When he nothing shines upon, / Then you show your little light, / Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.” The enigmatic verse five concludes the song: “As your bright and tiny spark, / Lights the traveller in the dark.

/ Though I know not what you are, / Twinkle, twinkle, little star.” It’s not known exactly when this poem was joined with the melody, but the first published combo version was in 1838, in the book The Singing Master. Jane Taylor, who died in 1866, is unlikely to have seen any proceeds from her creation, and certainly had no idea of the millions of children she would end up delighting. One consolation for her, should she be smiling down from the firmament, is that Star Trek: Enterprise honoured her by naming a character after her. Continuing our journey to the source, we pause in 1833, when Franz Liszt first performed a melody called Ah vous dirai-je, Maman. But Mr Liszt openly admitted he was not the melody’s maker, but had heard it in the work of another grand master, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Many people still believe that Mozart composed the tune. What is true is that Mozart wrote twelve variations on the theme, also called Ah vous dirai-je, Maman, some time between 1782 and 1786, while he was staying in Paris.

But Mozart was himself knocking off the melody from a song called Le Faux Pas, whose first line was "Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman". Like Coulter’s Candy, it was also used to promote the good things in life: “Ah! I shall tell you, mummy,/ What causes me torment./Daddy wants me to reason/Like a grown-up./ But I say that sweeties / are worth more than reason.” That ditty first appeared in 1761, when Mozart was just six, in a collection of traditional French songs called Les Amusements d'une Heure et Demy, by M. Bouin. Nothing more is known of Mr Bouin. In no history of music, could I find any evidence to suggest that he composed the melody, nor of where he found it. The trail ended there. Frustrated, I speculated the composer was some brilliant 16th-century Provençal milkmaid too committed to her secret art to record her work anywhere. Gary Lucas disagreed: “I bet it was a Greek shepherd on a panpipe, playing from the dawn of the world.

The panpipe would have had all the necessary notes.” Whoever the piper was, I lamented s/he had not had the hindsight of the story of the two women who created the world’s other most recognisable song, Happy Birthday. In 1893, a kindergarten principal called Patty Hill started singing the Happy Birthday tune to her class in Kentucky. It was called Good Morning to All then, and many have claimed the melody itself was knocked off another song, Happy Greetings to All, by Horace Waters. Either way, the song was so popular that Patty and her composer sister Mildred published it in a songbook called Song Stories for the Kindergarten. In 1924, the melody was published for the first time to Happy Birthday lyrics, although no one knows who set it to those words first. Commercial exploitation grew, with the song appearing in the 1931 Broadway musical The Band Wagon and a Western Union telegram commercial. When it featured in Irving Berlin’s As Thousands Cheer, a third Hill sister, Jessica, stepped in. She teamed up with a lawyer in 1934, and secured the copyright on the song for her two sisters. Mildred was already dead by then.

Jill would only have until 1946 to enjoy the proceeds of her creation before she too died, and both sisters had no children. But the Hill Trust, and their publishing partners, have profited handsomely. They sold the rights to Time-Warner Corporation in 1998, and their lawyers still enforce a law that demands that you buy a license if you want to use Happy Birthday in film, TV, radio, or anywhere open to the public. In 2008, the song yielded over $2 million in royalties, and this revenue stream will continue until copyright runs out in 2030 in the USA, and 2016 in the EU. And that’s all for a melody that might well have been composed by Horace Waters, a man just as uncompensated as the piper who first played Twinkle'’s melody. I asked Carol Connors, a Hollywood songwriter who was Oscar-nominated for composing the theme songs for Rocky and The Rescuers’ how she felt towards the piper: “Plagiarism is nothing new,” she shrugged. “We don’t always know what we’re stealing.

I wrote a hit record for the Ripchords called Hey Little Cobra, and it went on to become the most important hot-rod song ever. But a UCLA musicologist later showed me I had taken the tune from a song called Mama’s Little Baby Loves Short’nin’ Bread. It was public domain, so we were okay.” With the trail dead on the piper’s identity, the only way I could really honor her was to shed light on the melody itself. What makes this tune so universally cherished? To answer that, I needed to understand the mechanics of the song, and how it stimulates our minds. Since I was never even close to taking grade one piano, I had to interview some real musicians and musicologists. Dr Overy, who specialises in music and brain function, pinpoints three attributes behind the song’s success: “First, it’s singable – it’s in a small range, it’s in 4/4 time, in a major key, and has a well-shaped melody, with leaps up perfect 4ths and 5ths, followed by simple step-by-step movements down again. Second, it’s memorable. It has an A-B-A structure, which gives the song its own narrative.

That narrative has a lot of repetition in it, which helps make a song stick in the brain. And third, it’s interesting, both for musicians like Mozart because of its implied harmonies, and for the listener, because the melody has inherent tension in it. The ‘up above the world so high’ and ‘like a diamond in the sky’ lines are unfinished, not quite reaching the bottom. That builds tension, which makes it interesting even for adults.” Matt Peacock, a musician whose work producing opera performed by homeless people recently earned him an MBE, celebrates the song’s deceptive simplicity: “It’s one of the easiest tunes to play on a kiddie’s xylophone – the ones with different colours for each key – since it fits nicely into a single octave. It’s also really simple with the opening figure repeated at the end and a second figure repeated twice in the middle. All the best music has simplicity at its heart – usually with layers of complexity underneath.

Take Mozart, Bach, Britten – all geniuses who could write a damn good tune!” Carol Connors, whose song To Know Him is to Love Him was one of the catchiest songs of the 20th century, says, “Twinkle, Twinkle is the ultimate hit. I learned what a ‘hit’ is from Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown records who once told me: ‘A hit record is repetition. If it was a hit, it was infectious; if it was a miss, it was monotonous.’ There ain’t nothing monotonous about Twinkle, Twinkle.” David Wolfert, who has written hit songs for Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand and Cher, and who composed the score for my film True Bromance says: “Our enjoyment of music is based on a combination of the tune going where we are culturally conditioned to expect it to go, and how it surprises us from time to time by not doing what we expect. Children like the more expected musical path. This tune, which starts on the first degree of the scale, or tonic – C in the key of C – then comes to rest on the fifth step of the scale on the word ‘star’.

The fifth step – G in the key of C – is known to be the second strongest step to our Western ears. The tune then returns to the tonic again on the word ‘are’, which satisfies our expectation of completion.” Gary Lucas crystallises how this satisfaction enters our ears and hearts: “The song goes up and down, like life does. It’s a comforting revolution. Kids love it because they want to be clinging to mama’s heartbeat. This gives them that heartbeat. It’s a question and answer that’s gracefully resolved. It’s a mantra, like Don’t Worry, be Happy. It’s a song about the infinite. It makes us feel good; it shows that we’re all eternal, that we all shine on. It’s oral bubblegum that comes from the origin of music, from the piper at the gates of dawn. It’s an anthem, a hypnotic call for children of all ages to play.” It is that power that explains why this extraordinary melody has echoed through so many places and times – and why so many musicians have been tempted to pinch it.

Question: Which composer wrote the tune to which Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star is sung?
Answer: MOZART